The Raxus Address
by Steven Baleshiski
Summary: The speech given by Count Dooku on Raxus Prime in 24BBY, to begin the Separatist Crisis.


**My take on the Raxus Address, given by Dooku in 24BBY to kick off the Separatist Crisis. I'm not aware of any source that gives us the actual wording of the speech, so I decided to create it. Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars**

"Hello oppressed citizens of a once free galaxy. I am Count Dooku of Serreno. For my entire life, I served as a Jedi knight, and for many years, on the Jedi High Council. I dedicated my life to peace and justice, undertaking countless missions and risking my life countless times. I have protected people and communities, and brought countless criminals, pirates, terrorists, tyrants, and corrupt individuals to justice. And yet, as a Jedi, I was serving the most corrupt, most destructive institution in the entire galaxy.

The Galactic Republic, and its Senate, have become abominations. The Senate is mired in corruption and decadency. Senators routinely betray the people they're supposed to represent, whoring themselves to the highest bidder. They allow you, their own people, to suffer lawlessness, abuse, exploitation, stagnation, prejudice, and injustice. They lounge in luxury on Coruscant, while you toil and languish.

The Republic is deep in debt, which they expect you, the working people, to pay off for them. They have created layer upon layer upon layer of bureaucracy, which is enormously expensive, stifles your voice, and makes even the simplest aspects of governing frustrating and ineffective. They abolished their military, causing the rim worlds to fall into chaos and the hyperlanes to be overrun with pirates. And to add insult to injury, they punish and ridicule systems that try to militarize in self-defense.

The Republic also stifles our economy. It imposes a myriad of taxes, as do its sector governments and planetary governments. These taxes do not pay for our safety, as the military has been abolished. No, these taxes pay for the Senate's lavish lifestyle, the Republic's burdensome bureaucracy, and the whims of the highest bidders. The Republic has such contempt for you, they couldn't even by bothered to vote on the recent Financial Reform bill. Worse still, the maverick Senator who drafted the bill, Senator Jheramahd Greyshade, was assassinated by the powers that be. Killed in cold blood, for daring to actually represent the interests of the citizenry. Well, I dare the powers that be to come after me. I do not fear you. I will fight you, I will overthrow you, and I will destroy you.

The Jedi enforce the will of the Republic upon you. Their rhetoric about compassion and peace is self-righteous lies. They stand by and do nothing as the Republic tramples on you, but are quick to cut you down if you defend yourselves. Those in the Outer Rim know this all too well. Suffer an attack by pirates, enslavement by criminals, and the Jedi do nothing. But, declare your intention to leave the Republic and govern yourselves, and the Jedi are at your doorstep in the blink of an eye, ready to take you down. Instead of using their power to liberate people from the Republic, they use their power to keep people subjugated. Instead of devoting themselves to justice and good, they devote themselves to the Republic. It is for these reasons that I have resigned from the Order.

From this day forward, I devote my life to building a new government and a new Force order. The new government I will create will correct the Republic's failures. It will be lead by a head of state, a council of advisors, and a parliament. Instead of thousands of sectors with thousands of senators, we will have only a few dozen sectors, with only a few dozen senators. These Senators will serve four-year terms, and be elected by the planetary and system governments within their sector.

Our new government will not have sector governments, thus eliminating an entire layer of bureaucracy, taxes, laws, and regulations. Our new government will not impose its will on education, which will be left to the free systems of the galaxy. Our new government will not involve itself in welfare or healthcare, allowing the free systems to manage these tasks as they see fit. Under our new government, all tariffs and trade barriers will be eliminated. Citizens will be able to trade and do business with other citizens without restriction.

The new government will possess a large military. The military will be centralized, with planetary and system militaries being absorbed into it. The enforcement of law shall also be centralized. The role of government is to maintain order and the rule of law. Our new government will devote itself to that responsibility, without treading into roles that are not its by right.

We will patrol the hyperlanes, keeping them free of pirates. We will bring order to the Outer Rim, and root out lawlessness. We will rebuild the economy, by restoring control of economic matters to the people, instead of a corrupt and inept government.

I will also build a new Force-using order, to replace the complicit Jedi Order. This new order will serve the people, not corrupt politicians. It will utilize its power in service to good, uninhibited by a self-righteous, tyrannical code.

This will be the beginning of great strife and turmoil. After all, the Republic and Jedi will not surrender power willingly. We the people will have to take them down by force. A new day has begun. Today marks the end of silence and consent, and the beginning of revolution. We will seize power back from the ruling class. No longer will we be spat upon by people who are supposed to represent our interests. No longer will our voices be silenced, our grievances ignored. They didn't hear our pleas, now they will hear our judgment. People of the galaxy, join me in this quest. We will fight, and we will be free. May the Force be with us all.


End file.
